Art of Research Competition

We had 79 stunning images and photos submitted!

THANKS TO ALL WHO PARTICIPATED IN THE ART OF RESEARCH COMPETITION! WHETHER YOU SUBMITTED A PHOTO OR IMAGE, VOTED FOR YOUR FAVOURITE OR DROPPED BY TO SEE THE EXHIBIT IN THE CORRIDOR OUTSIDE GILMOUR HALL ROOM 238, YOU HELPED TO MAKE OUR INAUGURAL EVENT A SUCCESS. VISIT THE COMPLETE ALBUM ON FACEBOOK HERE, OR SEE A LIST OF ALL THE WINNERS AND RUNNERS UP HERE

It’s been said that “a picture is worth a thousand words”.

With the Art of Research competition, the Office of the Vice-President, Research is offering a different take on that much-used idiom. We’re challenging our contestants to submit stunning research-related photographs or images, use a maximum of 150 words to describe their submission AND provide a 100 character (or less!) Tweet description or title.

Your submission to the Art of Research competition is worth more than a thousand words – we’re offering first place prizes of $500 for each for the five themed categories, plus a chance to win a People's Choice award of $500, AND runner up prizes of $250.

The Details:

We are looking for extraordinary images that capture the imagination and pique our curiousity. We want images that make us ask about the research behind it: who took this picture or produced this image? what am I looking at? where did this come from? when and why was the photo taken, or the image captured?

The competition is open to McMaster University students, staff, faculty, alumni and retirees.

We want to share our research, scholarly and artistic work with the McMaster community and the public at large, and will feature all of the submissions on the Research@ McMaster website (research.mcmaster.ca), publish the winning submissions in IQ (McMaster’s Research magazine), and will celebrate the contest winners and display the Art of Research entries at a public exhibition in the Spring.

There are five themed categories in this competition:

1) Beyond the naked eye: images or photos that reveal the research in great detail or in a different way beyond our visual reach – we're looking for "more than meets the eye". It can be what's revealed under the microscope, or from an x-ray; what's found at the end of a telescope or modelled by a computer; the nano-world that's exposed by a variety of instruments and tools found across our campus, or the artistic renderings and visualizations created by an individual or team.

2) Fieldwork – photos taken from the field (anywhere in the world) that reflect a research experience.

3) Connecting to Communities: images or photos that reflect how research with communities from anywhere across Canada has impacted – or has the potential to impact – that community’s priority issues (i.e. their environment, health, economy etc.).

4) Research in Action: Images that express what the individual's research is about.

5) International: In keeping with the Forward with Integrity vision, “McMaster aspires to be an institution that is global in impact”, this category seeks photos that demonstrate research at work in international communities that addresses major global issues i.e. issues of climate change, international community development, or experiences of people from different cultures, backgrounds and faiths.

People’s Choice: these are the images or photos that receive the most votes during the public voting period (April 1 to April 8, 2016)and garner the most “buzz” on social media. All entries are automatically entered in this category.

APPLICATION PROCESS

All entries must be received by the contest closing date: Monday March 28, 2016 at 5:00 p.m. All images must be accompanied by an entry form (you can find an entry form on this page) One application form must be completed and submitted for each entry (only one entry per person is allowed) either via email to research@mcmaster.ca or via Dropbox to the Art of Research folder.

Prizes and Judging

All entries will be adjudicated by a multidisciplinary committee organized by the Office of the Vice-President Research. Prizes will be as follows: 1st Prize for each category – $500, Runner Up in each Category – $250.

Who is eligible?

All current McMaster faculty or staff, undergraduate and graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, alumni and retirees.

Terms and Conditions (a complete list of terms and conditions are included in the entry form which can be found here)

To enter, email completed entry form along with your image to research@mcmaster.ca or via Dropbox to Art of Research (all photos and images MUST be accompanied by a competed entry form). Download the entry form here

Images must be photo quality (300dpi) at an approximate minimum size of 2000 - 3000 pixels and in jpeg or tif format.

Only one image or photo per person will be accepted.

By entering the contest, the contestant grants the right to the Office of the Vice-President of Research, McMaster University to publish their submitted photo or image in IQ, McMaster’s Research Newsmagazine, as well as agrees that their entry may be used in print or electronic form (web & social media) to promote research outreach and subsequent contests.

By signing and completing the entry form the contestant consents to the entry of their submission and agrees to abide by contest terms and conditions.